for Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics: what should I do?
I'm afraid I've become a hypocrite. I am lustful and prideful. I go to Divine Liturgy and receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, but I know that my heart is unprepared. I try to pray, but I fail. I try not to sin by lusting, but I fail at that, too. I'm 16, and there is so much temptation in my life. I'm afraid that, I can go to confession and only moments after, sin in my thoughts. I don't know what to do.
I say my prayers and try to repent, and then I find myself sinning by looking at not-so-good things on the Internet. it's like I'm two people!
what can I do about this? only serious answers, please.
Androygenous: I really appreciate your answer. although I may not agree with all of it, I appreciate and understand your opinion. :-) (oh, by the way, our priests can get married, so there would be no need to take out your sexual tension on them when your married :-)
My answer is serious, but you might not like it. I'm not a Christian by any means, and this is exactly why. You grow up learning that lust is a sin, yet it's a natural feeling that every single person in the world had faced. If you find that you're prideful, just remind yourself to be more modest, remember that you are no better or worse than anyone else, and that everybody alive is just a person trying to make their way.
As for the lust, it's normal man, it really is. I'm sorry if I offend you by saying this, but a lot of religions have really twisted morals and values. They make you believe that you're corrupt and lost if you don't follow their codes, but really following the codes is what makes you twisted. You still believe in God and make your own morals, because those morals and rules that were set before you were made way back in the day by other men.
Besides, if you bottle up your sexuality, you'll end up molesting altar boys.
You are in a battle every man faces, the good news is that you have someone who wants to help you and wants you to win!
God is aware of your struggle, and he is willing to help you find victory! He even knows your heart as you pray.
Continue to pray, continue to go to confession and continue to fight. You will also have to make some behavior alterations. The Bible says flee from temptation. That means don't go near to the Internet, stay away from the computer if you have to! Part of this is your responsibility; you must make an effort, pray and then God will help.
Honestly, as long as we live on earth we will struggle with sin. as long as we continue to strive for God's perfect will in our lives, and confess our sin; God is faith to forgive.
I remember my priest told me to come back and confess if I sinned again. He mentioned that it's like we took shower, after we did it, we were clean and went out to school or work, but after sometime we got dirty again when we got home, What then we must do? Do we just let it go, being dirty? No, we would take shower again.
Confession is like taking shower, we must do it again and again. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you.
I'm now 70 yrs old and still have to battle at times lustful thoughts. I look 50 and am in decent physical condition and feel young just to let you know that women still flirt with me and some are much younger. But I've learned with prayer and discipline that once you refuse to entertain those thoughts it gets easier to ignore them. Try this the next time your tempted simply say Jesus Mary Joseph give me straight. Good luck and keep working at winning your battle and trust in God it will happen.
You know what? I am 61 and still face the same problem. Thanks be to God for the sacrament of reconciliation! The priest will understand your problem you know; he is a man too. Confess often, stay in grace and realize that you are not alone in sexual temptation. Pax Christi
First remember we're all sinners- the fact you feel that you might not be worthy to receive the Eucharist
shows that you are concerned about your soul. The person who is not concerned about their soul is the person who is truly on worthy. The best you can do is battle your temptations and when you fall pray, go to confession and try again.
Someone said that lust is normal. I'm surprised that people thumbed him down because he said this. He DOES have a point.
However, we don't have to be dominated by our lustful desires. Being Christian does not mean that we have to degrade women or spend lots of money on sexual fantasies or to abandon our duties. Being modest is what this person suggested and little does he seem to know that modesty IS the Christian answer.
When you read the Bible, do you think that Moses, Peter, or Paul did not have these same temptations to deal with? Even though they spoke about them I'm sure that they had them. But the Christan response is to deal with them and to gain help from our Heavenly Father. One way of doing this is to find yourself a wife. Lust is normal within the institution of marriage. Then your desire is to make her happy and to have children. There is nothing wrong with this.
However, if lust is filling your mind to an extent that your heart is not fully devoted to the Lord, then you need to pray about it and perhaps seek some encouragement from your church.
Now, you know you are not alone.
It is human that we have to battle our own wars and Thur God, we conquer it. The more we overcome it, the more we become holy. Circumstances makes us a hero.
Say 'Our Father" at the start of temptation. and focus on .."and lead us NOT to temptation but deliver us from evil".... Pax.
You've gotten mostly good advice here. One thing I might add is that there is a big difference between temptation (which Jesus experienced) and sin by lust (which he did not do).
We are all going to have wayward thoughts. To some degree, we can perceive the consequences of sin by following the consequences out in our imaginations. For example, if you run into pornography (pretty hard to miss), think about how those portrayed are preparing themselves for marriage by their actions. Consider whether the models you see would make good wives (or husbands for you girls). I think this will diminish much of the glamor of their actions.
for Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics: what should I do?
